Staple forming mechanism



Dec. 5, 1933. R. H. LAWSON STAPLE FORMING MECHANISM Filed July 2, 1950 Patented Dec. 5, 1933 PATENT OFFICE,

v 1,937,825 STAPLE. FORMING MECHANISM Robert H. Lawson, Beverly, Mass., assignor to United Shoe Machinery Corporation, Paterson; N. J., a corporation of New Jersey Applicationflluly z, 1930. Serial No. 465,387

9 Claims; (01. 1-20) This invention relates to machines for inserting fastenings and is illustrated herein as em-f bodied in a machine of the type disclosed in my copending application for Letters Patent of the United States, Se1'ia1-No. 295 ,080, filed July 24,

1928 which matured into Letters Patent No. 1,854,204 granted April 19, 1932.

The machine of my above identified-patentis particularly adapted to insert staples of fine wire, one on each side of a shoe,through the upper into the insole, to secure the upper in lasted relation to' the insole andto the last upon which it is mounted. Since the machine illustrated in the above-mentioned patent isintended tobe used Is for lasting Goodyear welt shoes, it is arranged to insert staples through the shoe upper into the rib of an insole mounted on a last and to clench the staples on anvils which back up the rib of the insole. It will be apparent that the holding power of a staple of fine wire will depend largely upon the nature of the clench which is imparted to it, and that the nature of the clenchwill depend to a large extent upon the accuracy with which thestaple is formed.

'In wire stapling machines as now generally constructed, wire feeding mechanismoperates to feed the end of a continuous strip of wire toward thecutting and staple forming mechanisms, the cutting mechanism "operating to cut desired lengthsfrom the iii-fed end of the wire and to center them relatively to the staple forming mechanism, the staple-forming mechanism usually comprising an outside former arranged to embrace an inside formeras it moves forward,

and to form around the inside former the length 35 of wirewhich has been severed and fed into position to be acted upon. The staple thus formed is usually of U-shape, having a back or bar, and legs. The back or barof the stapleis engaged anism and the staple driven into the workgthe legs of the staple completely penetrating the work and having their ends deflected by'means of a clenching anvil. i It is essential to the efiective operation of the formers in forming the severed portion of the wire into a staple of proper length that the in-fed portion of wire be not displaced relatively to the outside and inside formersof the machine during the cutting operation and prior tothe forming operation. It will bereadily seen that any displacement of thewire with respect to the formers prior to theforming operation will result in the formation of a' staple having one leg longer than the otherl' The formation of such a staple seriby a driver member of the staple inserting mechously affects the clenching thereof, and, indeed, ithas been found in practice that during the insetting operation the legs of staples so formed frequently skate in the work or crumple entirely.

In either case an entirely unsatisfactory fastening results.

In view of the above it is an object of the present invention to prevent displacement of the material from which a fastening is to be formed after the material has been fed into predetermined relation to the plate forming instrumentalities of a staple forming and inserting machine.

A feature of the invention resides in means arranged to engage the wire during the feeding operation to hold the in-fed portion of wire in fixed relation to the staple forming instrumentalities prior to the forming operation. In the illustrated construction and according to an important feature of the invention a plurality of wire-holding fingers are carried by the outside former of a stapling machine and are arranged to engage the wire during the feeding operation and thereby to hold the wire against displacement during the cutting operation and until a staple formed by the relative movement of the outside and inside formers of the machine; Although the invention is described as being embodied in the machine shown in my patent, above cited, it is recognized that the inventioniis not restricted in its applicability to such a machine but can be used in other types of fastening-inserting machines.

Other features and objects of the invention will be apparent from a consideration of thefollowing description and claims in connection with the accompanying drawing, in which Fig. 1 is a side elevationon an enlarged scale of a staple forming and inserting mechanism, the throat member of which is shown partly in section to illustrate more clearly the means for holding against displacement the material from which a staple is to be formed;

Fig. 2 is a front elevation of the throat member shown in Fig. 1 with the cover plate removed; 100 and 1 Fig. 3 is a view in perspective of the cover plate of the throat member showing the mounting of the spring fingers. l

The invention is illustrated hereinas embodied 105 in a staple forming and inserting machine of the typeillustrated in my Patent No. l,85 4,204 referred to above and many of theparts of the machine may be and as illustrated are identical with parts of that machine. As in the machine of no that patent the staple forming and inserting mechanism shown is carried by two levers 10, 12 fulcrumed at 14 and a lever 16 fulcrumed at 18 to two parallel plates secured to the head of the machine. A link 20 is pivoted at 22 to the lever 12. An arcuate driver 24, T-shaped in cross section, is clamped at 26 to the lever 12 and passes through a similarly shaped driver passage 28 formed in a throat member 36 carried by the lever 10. An inside former 32 is provided at the lower end of a lever 34 fulcrumed to the plates at 18. The lever 16 straddles the lever 34 and is provided with a surface 36 arranged to co-operate with a surface 38 formed on the lever 34 to limit movement of the lever 34 in a clockwise direction, as viewed in Fig. 1, under the influence of a compression spring 40, one end of which enters an orifice in the lever 34 and the other end of which is surrounded by a bushing 42 carried by the lever 16 and having a set screw 44 threaded into one end thereof to adjust the tension of the spring 40.

One of the plates of the lever 16 is provided with a slot 46, the upper portion 48 of which is straight and the lower portion 50 of which is formed as an arc of a circle which, when the parts are in staple inserting position, is concentric with the fulcrum 14 of the levers l0 and 12. The slot 46 receives a roll 52 carried by the outer end of the lever 12. Thus as the lever 12 is rocked in a clockwise direction, as viewed in Fig. l, the lever 16 will be rocked in a counter-clockwise direction until the roll 52 reaches the arcuate portion 50 of the slot 46. When this position is reached further movement of the lever 12 will not affect the position of the lever 16 which, on the contrary, will be locked against rocking movement by the presence of the roll 52 in the arcuate portion 50 of the slot 46.

The lever 10 is provided with a straight slot 54 to receive a roll 56 carried by the lever 16. As the lever 16 is rocked during the earlier part of the movement of the lever 12 while the roll 52 moves along the straight portion 48 of the slot 46', the lever 10 is also rocked in a clockwise direction through the engagement of the roll 56 carried by the lever 16 in the slot 54 of the lever 10. When, however, the roll 52 reached the arcuate portion 50 of the slot 46 of the lever 16 and the lever 16 thus becomes stationary the lever 10 is also looked against further movement. At this time lines drawn from the center of the fulcrum 14 to the center of the roll 52 and from the center of the roll 52 to the center of the fulcrum 18 are at right angles to each other. At this time also the outer end of the throat member 30 is pressed firmly against the Work and is so held during the driving of each staple.

The throat member 36 is formed of two principal parts, as best shown in Fig. 1. These consist of a block 58 having an arcuate outer surface concentric with the fulcrum 14 in which surface is formed a driver passage or throat opening of T-shape cross section corresponding to that of the driver 24 and a cover plate 60 formed with a slot 62 (Fig. 2) to permit the entrance of the inside former 32. Adjacent to the slot 62 the cover plate 60 is provided with a shoulder 64 (Fig. 3) co-operating with a pawl 66 pivoted at 68 to the lever 34 and urged in .a clockwise direction, as viewed in Fig. 1, by a spring '76 into engagement with a pin 72 carried by the lever 34.

A wire 74 from which a staple is formed is fed into the throat member 30, by means of wire feeding mechanism not shown, through a tube '76 having an adjustable end portion 78 leading to a passage 80 formed in the block 58 of the throat member and enclosed by the cover plate 60, the passage 80 being positioned in alinement with the outlet end 78 of the tube 76 at the time the wire '74 is fed and being moved from that position to shear a length of wire from which a staple is to be formed during the return move ment of the throat member 30.

In order to prevent displacement of the wire '74 during the wire cutting operation and prior to the staple forming operation, wire retaining means are provided comprising a pair of spring fingers 82, 82 carried by the cover plate 60. These spring fingers 82, 82 are positioned one on each side of the driver passage 28 of the throat member 30 in slots 84, 84 formed in the cover plate 60 and have their downwardly turned ends extending through openings in the plate 60, said openings being in alinement with the slots 84, 84.

'The throat block 58 carries a spring-pressed plunger 86 having a head 88 in which is formed a slot 90 which, when the plunger is in elevated position, constitutes a part of the driver passage. The head 88 of the plunger 86 forms also part of one of the walls of the wire passage 80. The upper end of the slot 90 is somewhat enlarged, as best shown in Fig. 2, in order freely to receive the leading end of the driver 24 and is provided with a narrower slot 92 to receive the upstanding flange of the driver which flange is beveled at its entering end, as clearly shown at .94 in Fig. 1. Thus the walls of the wire passage 80 are substantially complete at the time the wire is fed. In order that the in-fed portion of wire may be engaged by the spring fingers 82 and thus held against displacement during the cutting operation the head 88 of the plunger 86 is provided with a pair of slots 96, 96 in alinement with and normally receiving the ends of the spring fingers 82, 82 and of such a depth that the ends of the fingers 82, 82 will engage the wire as the wire is fed into proper relation to the formers and will thereafter yieldingly hold the wire against displacement during the cutting operation.

The plunger 86 is positioned in the path of movement of the inside former 32 and, when the inside former 32 moves into operative position, is displaced leaving the inside former just'ahead of the wire from which the staple is to be formed. At this time the opposite ends of the severed portion of wire are held by the spring fingers 82,82 thereby preventing displacement of the wire relatively to the throat member 30 and theinside former 32. Downward and forward movement of the throat member 30 relatively tothe inside former 32 causes the walls of the driver passage 28 to serve as outside formers forming astaple from a piece of wire.

When the inside former 32 first moves toward the throat member 30 the pawl 66 engages the throat member above the shoulder 64, said-pawl serving to hold the inside former 32 out of the driver passage 28. This is during the return movement of the levers 10, 12 and 16. Continued movement of the lever 10 and the throat member 30 in a counter-clockwise direction, as viewed in Fig. 1, permits the pawl 66 to drop off the shoulder 64 so that the inside former 32 can enter the driver passage 28, displacing the plunger 86 and leaving the parts in the position shown in Fig. 1 ready for the'formation of a staple which takes place soon after the starting of the downward movement of the throat meber 30 in-the next cycle of operation of the staple forming, and inserting means. The severed portion -.ofwire '14 is held against displacement by means of the spring fingers 82, 82 thus insuring that the median portion of the wire 74 will be engaged by the inside former 32 and a staple will be formed having legs of equal lengths. As the staple is being formed the pawl 66 swings in a counterclockwise direction, as viewed in Fig. 1. Soon after this the counter-clockwise movement of the lever 16 causes the surface 36 to engage the surface 38 of the lever 34, withdrawing the inside former 32 from the driver passage 28 and leaving a complete staple in the driver passage ready to be inserted. The Withdrawal of the inside former 32 also permits the plunger 86 to move forward thereby completing the driver passage.

Having thus described my invention what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States is:

1. In a stapling machine, a .movable throat member having a wire passage therein, means for feeding a piece of wire into said wire passage in predetermined relation to said throat member, an inside former constructed and arranged to engage a portion of the wire during movement of the throat member, and yielding means movable with the throat member and arranged to engage the wire in said wire passage to hold it against displacement until it is engaged by said inside former.

2. In a stapling machine, a throat member provided with a wire passage and a driver passage portions of the walls of which serve as an outside former, means for feeding a predetermined length of wire into said wire passage, an inside former relatively to which the throat member is movable to form a staple from the fedin portion of wire, and means movable with the throat member for holding the wire in said wire I passage against lengthwise displacement prior to the forming of a staple.

3. In a stapling machine, a throat member provided with a wire passage and a driver passage portions of the walls of which serve as an outside former, means for feeding a predetermined length of wire into said wire passage, means for cutting said wire, an inside former relatively to which the outside former is movable to form a staple from the wire in said wire passage, and means for frictionally engaging the wire during the wire feeding operation to prevent displacement of the wire during the wire cutting operation, said means being thereafter movable with the outside former to hold said wire against displacement until a staple is formed.

4. In a stapling machine, a movable throat member having a wire passage therein,means for feeding a portion of wire into said wire passage, an inside former relatively to which the throat member is movable to form a staple fromthe in-fed portion of wire, and means movable withsaid throat member and partially covering said wire passage for exerting lateral pressure on the wire during the feeding movementthereof, said means being constructed and arranged to hold the wire against displacement after it has been fed into the throat member and during movement of the throat member relatively to the inside former.

5. In a stapling machine, a movable throat member having a wire passage therein, a cover plate mounted on said throat member, means for feeding a length of wire into said wire passage, means for severing the wire, means movable to displace the severing means and arranged to cooperate with said throat member to form a staple from the severed portion of wire, and means carried by the cover plate and movable between the throat member and said cover plate for engaging the severed portion of wire and holding it against displacement during the severing operation and prior to the staple forming operation.

6. A staple inserting machine having a throat member provided with a wire passage and a driver passage portions of the walls of which serve as an outside former, means for feeding a predetermined length of wire into said wire passage, an inside former arranged to be moved into and out of said driver passage to co-operate with said outside former, wire cutting means comprising a spring-pressed plunger having a surface normally forming one side of said wire passage but displaceable by said inside former, and means for preventing displacement of the wire in the wire passage after the inside former has been moved into operative position.

7. A staple inserting machine having a throat member provided with a wire passage and a driver passage, said driver passage having portions of its walls acting also as an outside former, means for feeding a length of wire into said wire passage coextensive therewith, a movable wire cutter carried by said throat member and co-operating with said wire feeding means to sever the in-fed portion of wire from a continuous strip, and means for engaging the wire as the wire is fed into the wire passage thereby to hold the wire against displacement during the wire severing operation.

8. A staple forming and inserting machine, having a throat member provided with a wire passage and a driver passage, said driver pasfed into the wire passage thereby to hold the wire against displacement prior to the forming operation.

.9. A staple forming and inserting machine having, in combination, a throat member provided with a wire passage and a driver passage, said driver passage having portions of its walls serving also as an outside former, wire feeding means, an inside former arranged to be moved into said driver passage to co-operate with said outside former, wire cutting means comprising a springpressed plunger having a surface normally forming one side of said wire passage but displaceable by said inside former, and wire retaining means, comprising a pair of spring fingers carried by said throat member one on each side of said driver passage and arranged to engage the wire as the wire is fed into the wire passage to hold the wire against displacement prior to the staple forming operation.

ROBERT H. LAWSON.

CERTIFICATE OF eeaaec'rlonr Patent No. 1,937,825. December 5, 1933.

ROBERT H. LAWSON.

2i here'ey certified tha: error appears in the printed specification of the aeeve numbered gatem requiring correction as follows: Page 1, line 66, for g1late" read staple; and that the said Letters Patent should be read with this correction therein that the same may conform to the record of the ease in the Patent Office. I Y

Signed and sealed this 20th day of February, A. I). 1.934.

V i M. l-lopliirls (Seal) Acting COIIImISSROBBI' of Patents. 

